Safety concerns have the city of Naperville considering changes to how buses and cars drop off and pick up students at Washington Junior High School.
The Naperville Transportation and Advisory Board recently recommended a revision so buses load on Spring Avenue on the north side of the school rather than on Douglas Avenue starting this fall.
In turn, the drop-off and pickup of students would move to Douglas Avenue instead of Spring Avenue.
Michael Prousa, project manager for the city’s Transportation, Engineering and Development department, told the board that parents and Washington Junior High School Principal Jon Vogel had raised concerns about the congestion and the possibility of a pedestrian being hit under the current traffic control plan.
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In a letter to the city, Vogel said students have been walking between parked and idling cars to cross the street to get to their rides.
“Cars have also engaged in three-point turns to proceed westbound on Spring Street to avoid the traffic on Washington Street. These behaviors have led to unsafe situations with poor visibility, heavy congestion and unsafe driving choices increasing the potential for accidents to occur,” Vogel said in the letter.
Prousa said it would be safer to have vehicle drop-off/pickup on Douglas Avenue because there is no parking on the south side of the street.
On Spring Avenue, parking is allowed on the north side.
While most vehicles drop off or pick up students on the south side of the Spring Avenue, Prousa said, others were parking in spots on the north side, typically used by residents of the Big Rail neighborhood to the north.
“You have kids crossing between parked cars,” he said. “You’re creating a dangerous situation there, and us flipping it will resolve that.”
Board member Matthew Seeberg questioned whether the recommendations implemented after the west side neighborhood traffic study caused the problem.
One of the changes implemented last year near Washington Junior High was to make Webster Street and Spring Avenue a four-way stop.
The other, which won’t be completed until this August because of material shortages, is to move the pedestrian crosswalk on Spring Avenue near Big Rail Drive.
Prousa said the drop-off/pickup problems were probably happening when the study was conducted but wasn’t mentioned and was probably missed by the consultant.
“But once the concern was raised, we went out and made observations and realized that a switch should be made,” he said.
Spring Avenue also is a busier street, Prousa said.
The city labels the street as a neighborhood connector, with an average daily traffic volume of 2,600 vehicles. Douglas Avenue, on the other hand, is a local street with about 1,100 vehicles using it daily, he said.
Staff met with Vogel and a Naperville School District 203 transportation representative, who agreed with the switch, Prousa said.